AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: EDDIE KANTAR
Our new feature kicks off this month with none other than prolific bridge legend Eddie Kantar, whose many books include Modern Bridge Defense, Bridge Humor (later renamed Classic Kantar), and Kantar on Kontract. A member of the Bridge Hall of Fame, Mr. Kantar has won two World Championships and occasionally contributes to masteringbridge.com. His articles appear regularly in bridge magazines around the world.
What proportion of your time is spent teaching, writing, and playing?
I don't teach very often these days. I pick my spots, and I have a September Mediterranean cruise lined up and will be teaching later this year in Aspen for the fifth straight year. I have also been teaching once a year with Zeke and Sharon Jabbour, two of my favorite people, in some neat places as well. I also lecture at two charity functions each year: an MS function and a Stop Cancer weekend.
Playing seriously is sort of a thing in the past. I just don't care to travel from tournament to tournament any longer, not to mention spend the hours going over the system we play plus whatever our opponents throw at us. However, I do play with friends and keep my eyes open for good lesson or article hands. In addition, I get many questions via email. People must like my answers because they keep asking! Of course, if one asker is the husband and one is the wife, I am in big trouble!
Writing takes up most of my "bridge time." I have just finished a book which should be out at the end of year tentatively titled Take All of Your Chances. It is a quiz book of 100 play hands that feature picking the best of two or three lines of play, with appropriate teaching commentary after each hand. I have given these hands to a few teachers to see what happens when they use them in a class setting and the feedback has been great. One teacher got a standing ovation! I also write articles for various magazines.
I spend considerable time each month reading the literature of the game. Each month I get magazines from Australia, Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, in addition to the ACBL Bulletin and the Bridge World. Although I am not fluent in any foreign language, I can read Bridge French, Italian and German. However, I must confess with the German magazine I sometimes need a dictionary. Some of the words are sooooo long!
How would you classify your sense of humor in your writing/teaching?
Humor plays a big part in my writing. I hate reading dry books and I would hate writing one. I want my readers to hang in there, and writing in a humorous vein is the best way I know to do it. I also throw in bridge jokes when I am teaching but they must be apropos. Some are so well liked that I have literally been begged to tell them again... and again! I started to write them down and have a list of over 100 which I look at from time to time so I am ready if something should come up in class. I have posted most of them on my website.
What are your favorite bridge books (besides your own)?
Right Through the Pack is my favorite book. Pietro Forquet's Bridge With the Blue Team was sensational as well. There are too many other terrific ones out there to mention, so I will stop with these two.
Which of your own bridge books are you most proud of?
I guess Take Your Tricks, Bridge for Dummies, Bridge Humor (now called Classic Kantar), and Defensive Play Complete, which I modernized, and Ray Lee made two books out of Complete Defense Bridge Play: Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense, and Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense. I also have a place in my heart for all of the Keycard Books I have struggled (to use a mild term) with. The last one (the fifth edition!) Roman Keycard Blackwood - The Final Word is definitely the best. (You'd think I could get it right by now!)
What is your teaching philosophy?
Make it simple, make them laugh, show them how to think, avoid memorization. I do all my teaching examples with cards face up on the table, and make sure the students have learned something!
Do you have any funny or rewarding bridge moments that you haven’t written about yet (until now)?
I have written most of the funny stuff. What I haven't mentioned is the letters I get that are so flattering that I started keeping them to remind me I have at least made some people happy with this bridge life of mine.
What victory are you most proud of?
Winning the World Championship in Rio de Janeiro in 1977, where Billy Eisenberg and I played quite well.
Very few high level players also teach. Why do you think this is the case?
Many top players are not cut out to teach. They may not have the patience and they usually can't get down low enough to teach at the level of their students. It helps to be around beginners and intermediate players to see how their minds work.
As a top-level expert, how do you relate to the problems that learners have?
I have taught enough of them to know how they think and I start from there.
What do you think are some of the most significant changes in bridge in the last few years?
I guess the new conventions, more preempting which in turns leads to far more aggressive bidding. It is rare that the opponents give you a free ride by staying out of the bidding.
If you were to pitch a TV show about bridge today, what would the format be?
If I knew the answer to that one, I might be a rich man. It's a tough game to sell on TV. I always wanted to try to teach on PBS, but never had the chance.
You started playing bridge at a very young age. Do you think an early start is integral to success?
Yes. From what I observe, those that start early have a significant head start that puts them at the head of the class for years before others can catch up.
Who has been your favourite partner, and why?
I have had several 'favorite partners' but I don't like rating them. In the order that I played them, they are: Marshall Miles, Bob Hamman, Paul Soloway, Mike Lawrence, Billy Eisenberg and Alan Sontag. Not a bad lineup, is it?
What is your most important advice to new players?
Learn the basics and keep it simple. Stick to a few conventions. One of my pet peeves is teachers who teach nothing but conventions. It irritates me just writing about it
How did you get into paddle tennis and table tennis? Do these sports complement your bridge habit?
I have been playing table tennis since I was 9 or 10 years old. (For those that equate table tennis with the ping pong they used to play or still play, I suggest turning on the Tennis Channel and watching the Spinvitational segments.) After that I started to play tennis, and when I moved to California I discovered paddle tennis at Venice Beach. I played there so often they called me the 'mayor'. Now I play more table tennis. For me, athletic activities and bridge complement each other. When I am through playing a racket sport, playing bridge is easier because I don't get antsy. After playing bridge I can't wait to exercise!
Tell us a little more about your life away from the bridge table. How do you maintain a balance between work and play, if there is a difference?
There is very little difference. I like what I do to make a living, but I don't really think of it as work. Much of my time is spent with my wife, Yvonne, who is a good paddle tennis player, an improving bridge player, makes wonderful meals, and loves to take long walks by the ocean with me.
Were it not for bridge, what would your career have been?
That is the worst question you could have possibly asked. Nothing other than “beach bum” comes to mind. I guess I would have been a language teacher. I majored in foreign languages at the University of Minnesota, when I wasn't playing bridge in the card room or table tennis in the student union.
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